fjm9898
Member
Hello all! I have been a long time fan of this forum and lurker for years, now that my shop is finally looking like a reality, i thought it was best to actually join and make a build thread and be a contributor!
So a quick or not so quick run down. I have been trying to get this shop permitted since last November and it looks like I am finally making head way. Here is a short story of how that all went.
The home i purchased has a 60x30 concrete pad for a sports court (6inch thick concrete, perfect for building a shop over top as it was right next to the driveway. I thought i could get around some of the permitting stuff with this pad already being in place. I am working with Permabilt for the structure and permitting process and they had talked to the county and said no drainage plan required since the pad was already there. They actually misunderstood and thought were were just building a roof over the pad which at 60x30 is 1,800 sq ft and no drain plan required. However we are building a 64x36 shop as to not have to cut into the current pad to install the posts. Washington requires a drain plan for anything over 2000sq ft and this building is now 2300sq ft. So that first permit was denied and i had to go get a drainage plan
After 3 months of waiting to get someone on site for a drain plan and $4000 later, we had the plan and submitted the permit again.
In the mean time the health department denied my permit as well because our drawing for the site plan does not match their as built. Well they are right, its doesn't. Its because their as built from 1987 is incorrect and they approved it when they should NOT of. My lot is a parallelogram shape and it was drawn as a perfect rectangle in their as built. This means the lot end lines are different and measurements from the house and septic tank do match up between our drawing (correct to county lines) and their incorrect as built. The permit tech from Permabilt explains this to them over a few weeks and we are told understood it will be approved and i wont have to get a surveyor out to make a new updated as built for the county (i probably will at some point anyway but did not want to deal with that now)
After 2 months of waiting to hear back from the county after the new permit was submitted with the drain plan, it gets denied again and now they want a Critical areas survey done and a GeoTech Survey as the shop would be located near a hillside at the stop, and could cause a land slide according to them. Permabilt gets quotes for $1500 for a critical areas and $7500 for a GeoTech. I spend a month trying to figure out how to get around a $7500 GeoTech which may say its not build-able and i be out a lot of money at that point. Lucky for me i find a Co-Worker who father works in excavation and knows a GeoTech he works with on the regular. After about a month or two until the GeoTech had some free time he comes out and we dig some holes. He says we are good and completed the GeoTech and says he report should cover the Critical areas as well (I pray it does or this is going to get denied yet again). We submit for the permit again. Its now been a month and have yet to hear back from the county.
In the mean time i come to find the health department never approved the as built problem and the permit tech from Permabilt i was working with quit and had none of this written down We had no idea who she spoke to about getting it approved and had to start all over again and are back to arguing with the health department about the as built. I finally circumvent the new Permabilt permit tech as i dont think he is doing a good job and go straight to the health department myself. After a 5min conversation with them, they agree to come visit the site and take a look (the old 1987 as built is so bad its hard to really tell what is going on) He comes to my home, sees the tank and where the drain field is (all 100s of feet away from the shop location) and within 30 seconds says i am all good. so after 6 months of this health department thing, the guy visits the home and in 30 seconds says we are good to go. Yesterday i get the email and confirmation the health department has approved our site plan. FINALLY
So now i am just waiting on the county to get back with the permit if they accepted the GeoTech and see if they are going to stick me with a critical areas.
I will try and get some pictures of the current site as it sits today (after i have already done most of the excavation around it for the footing to be poured) In the mean time i have taken the opportunity to run about 150 cubic yards of landscaping material into the back yard to do that before the shop is built. Once the shop goes up i wont be able to have dump trucks bet back there and would of had to wheel barrow that all around. it would of been a nightmare, so in a way, silver lining the shop is delayed. I have a few more dump truck loads that need to go back there and have another 750 retaining wall blocks being delivered monday that should finish over that project.
I will post some pictures of that landscaping project once i get home and have access to the images.
Sorry for this long winded post, pictures will be coming soon!
So a quick or not so quick run down. I have been trying to get this shop permitted since last November and it looks like I am finally making head way. Here is a short story of how that all went.
The home i purchased has a 60x30 concrete pad for a sports court (6inch thick concrete, perfect for building a shop over top as it was right next to the driveway. I thought i could get around some of the permitting stuff with this pad already being in place. I am working with Permabilt for the structure and permitting process and they had talked to the county and said no drainage plan required since the pad was already there. They actually misunderstood and thought were were just building a roof over the pad which at 60x30 is 1,800 sq ft and no drain plan required. However we are building a 64x36 shop as to not have to cut into the current pad to install the posts. Washington requires a drain plan for anything over 2000sq ft and this building is now 2300sq ft. So that first permit was denied and i had to go get a drainage plan
After 3 months of waiting to get someone on site for a drain plan and $4000 later, we had the plan and submitted the permit again.
In the mean time the health department denied my permit as well because our drawing for the site plan does not match their as built. Well they are right, its doesn't. Its because their as built from 1987 is incorrect and they approved it when they should NOT of. My lot is a parallelogram shape and it was drawn as a perfect rectangle in their as built. This means the lot end lines are different and measurements from the house and septic tank do match up between our drawing (correct to county lines) and their incorrect as built. The permit tech from Permabilt explains this to them over a few weeks and we are told understood it will be approved and i wont have to get a surveyor out to make a new updated as built for the county (i probably will at some point anyway but did not want to deal with that now)
After 2 months of waiting to hear back from the county after the new permit was submitted with the drain plan, it gets denied again and now they want a Critical areas survey done and a GeoTech Survey as the shop would be located near a hillside at the stop, and could cause a land slide according to them. Permabilt gets quotes for $1500 for a critical areas and $7500 for a GeoTech. I spend a month trying to figure out how to get around a $7500 GeoTech which may say its not build-able and i be out a lot of money at that point. Lucky for me i find a Co-Worker who father works in excavation and knows a GeoTech he works with on the regular. After about a month or two until the GeoTech had some free time he comes out and we dig some holes. He says we are good and completed the GeoTech and says he report should cover the Critical areas as well (I pray it does or this is going to get denied yet again). We submit for the permit again. Its now been a month and have yet to hear back from the county.
In the mean time i come to find the health department never approved the as built problem and the permit tech from Permabilt i was working with quit and had none of this written down We had no idea who she spoke to about getting it approved and had to start all over again and are back to arguing with the health department about the as built. I finally circumvent the new Permabilt permit tech as i dont think he is doing a good job and go straight to the health department myself. After a 5min conversation with them, they agree to come visit the site and take a look (the old 1987 as built is so bad its hard to really tell what is going on) He comes to my home, sees the tank and where the drain field is (all 100s of feet away from the shop location) and within 30 seconds says i am all good. so after 6 months of this health department thing, the guy visits the home and in 30 seconds says we are good to go. Yesterday i get the email and confirmation the health department has approved our site plan. FINALLY
So now i am just waiting on the county to get back with the permit if they accepted the GeoTech and see if they are going to stick me with a critical areas.
I will try and get some pictures of the current site as it sits today (after i have already done most of the excavation around it for the footing to be poured) In the mean time i have taken the opportunity to run about 150 cubic yards of landscaping material into the back yard to do that before the shop is built. Once the shop goes up i wont be able to have dump trucks bet back there and would of had to wheel barrow that all around. it would of been a nightmare, so in a way, silver lining the shop is delayed. I have a few more dump truck loads that need to go back there and have another 750 retaining wall blocks being delivered monday that should finish over that project.
I will post some pictures of that landscaping project once i get home and have access to the images.
Sorry for this long winded post, pictures will be coming soon!